Technetium chemistry in the fuel cycle: combining basic and applied studies.

Technetium is intimately linked with nuclear reactions. The ultraminute natural levels in the environment are due to the spontaneous fission of uranium isotopes. The discovery of technetium was born from accelerator reactions, and its use and presence in the modern world are directly due to nuclear reactors. While occupying a central location in the periodic table, the chemistry of technetium is poorly explored, especially when compared to its neighboring elements, i.e., molybdenum, ruthenium, and rhenium. This state of affairs, which is tied to the small number of laboratories equipped to work with the long-lived (99)Tc isotope, provides a remarkable opportunity to combine basic studies with applications for the nuclear fuel cycle. An example is given through examination of the technetium halide compounds. Binary metal halides represent some of the most fundamental of inorganic compounds. The synthesis of new technetium halides demonstrates trends with structure, coordination number, and speciation that can be utilized in the nuclear fuel cycle. Examples are provided for technetium-zirconium alloys as waste forms and the formation of reduced technetium species in separations.

Structural studies of technetium-zirconium alloys by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution electron microscopy, and first-principles calculations.

The structural properties of Tc-Zr binary alloys were investigated using combined experimental and computational approaches. The Tc(2)Zr and Tc(6)Zr samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and transmission electron microscopy. Our XRD results show that Tc(6)Zr crystallizes in the cubic alpha-Mn-type structure (I43m space group) with a variable stoichiometry of Tc(6.25-x)Zr (0 < x < 1.45), and Tc(2)Zr has a hexagonal crystal lattice with a MgZn(2)-type structure (P6(3)/mmc space group). Rietveld analysis of the powder XRD patterns and density functional calculations of the "Tc(6)Zr" phase show a linear increase of the lattice parameter when moving from Tc(6.25)Zr to Tc(4..80)Zr compositions, similar to previous observations in the Re-Zr system. This variation of the composition of "Tc(6)Zr" is explained by the substitution of Zr for Tc atoms in the 2a site of the alpha-Mn-type structure. These results suggest that the width of the "Tc(6)Zr" phase needs to be included when constructing the Tc-Zr phase diagram. The bonding character and stability of the various Tc-Zr phases were also investigated from first principles. Calculations indicate that valence and conduction bands near the Fermi level are dominated by electrons occupying the 4d orbital. In particular, the highest-lying molecular orbitals of the valence band of Tc(2)Zr are composed of d-d sigma bonds, oriented along the normal axis of the (110) plane and linking the Zr network to the Tc framework. Strong d-d bonds stabilizing the Tc framework in the hexagonal unit cell are also in the valence band. In the cubic structures of Tc-Zr phases, only Tc 4d orbitals are found to significantly contribute near the Fermi level.